We all sleep in cycles, which are essentially just regular patterns of brain activity.
You’ll know all about your baby’s sleep habits and tendencies, and one of the things you might have noticed is that they sleep in cycles. Don’t worry if you haven’t noticed if your baby is still very little because their cycles are less well defined until around 4 months (because they still have the store of melatonin that they were born with in their systems). As they get older and this store is depleted, you’ll see some quite clear signs as to which phase of sleep they are in.
When your little one initially falls asleep, they will go straight into a lighter, more active sleep phase. In this phase, you might see their eyelids twitching, and some smiling, twitching and wriggling. They may also make little noises, or grunts – but don’t worry, they are still asleep! This phase of sleep will last around 15 minutes, and then as they transition from light to deep sleep, there is more of a risk that they can be woken by external noises. You might feel a bit anxious about them waking at this stage but try not to worry. When your baby has transitioned into the deep sleep phase, they will be much stiller and quieter, their breathing slower and more rhythmic and its less likely they will be woken by external noises.
This light (REM) sleep is needed for survival – it allows babies to tell us that they are cold or hungry for example! Evolutionally, when we move from deep to light sleep towards the end of the sleep cycle, it also enables us to ‘check-in’ with our environment and ensure we’re still safe. This is when it can be a bit tricky for babies to go back to sleep if they ‘check-in’ and are somewhere else to where they have fallen asleep i.e. in their cot compared to in their parent’s arms! This is the reason why helping babies to practice settling themselves to sleep can help them sleep through cycles easier.
Comfort, both tummy and related to the environment (hunger, warmth, light levels), has a big impact on sleep and a baby’s ability to move through sleep cycles, so keep an eye on their comfort – remember winding is your super power! Sometimes when your baby is very little and they wake after a short time, picking them up and giving them a little burp will mean that they then fall back to sleep really easily. If your baby is waking up from hunger, then give them a little top up feed before their sleep…but again – remember to wind them well! Environment is a really important factor – make sure the room that they are sleeping in is a good temperature and they are dressed accordingly (refer to The Lullaby Trust for safe sleeping guidelines), it is dark (day and night!) and you could even use consistent white noise to stop any external noises affecting your little one.
If your child is over or under-tired then they could also struggle to link their sleep cycles so keep an eye on the awake windows for their age. If the awake window is accurate and you have tried for 4/5 days but they are still not sleeping longer than one cycle, then tweak the windows earlier or later by 15mins, and try again for 4/5 days.
If nothing is helping your little one extend their naps or night-time sleep, get in contact and we can tackle it together!